Railroad-rail



(No Model.)

F. LIGHTFOOT.

RAILROAD RAIL.

No. 373,591. Patented Nov. 22, 1887.

l l im |,lllllllllllll 1 Il iii INVENTO,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS LIGI'ITFOOT, OF LANSDOVNE, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD-RAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 373,591I dated November22, 1887.

Application Iiled April 26, 1887. Serial No. 236,135. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom] it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS LrenTFooT, residing at Lansdowne, in thecounty of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the UnitedStates, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvementsin Railroad-Rails, of which improvements the following is aspecification.

In the accompanying drawings, which make part of this specification,Figures l, 2, and 3 are views in side elevation of the two mem'- bers ofmy improved rail-joint. showing different forms of construction. Fig. 4is a transverse sectional view of one of the joints formed by rail endsconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 5 is a longitudinalsection of a rail-joint formed in accordance with my invention.

The invention herein relates to a class of rail-jointsknown as thecontinuous tread,77 wherein the adjoining ends of two rails overlap eachother; and the invention has for its object as well such a constructionof the joint as will effect the locking together of theoverlapping ends,so as to prevent independent movement of the members in a verticaldirection as to effect continuity ot" tread; and to this end theinvention consists in the construction and combinationofparts,substantially as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In Letters Patent No. 294,245, granted me February 26, 1884, I havedescribed and claimed a rail-joint formed by overlapping rail ends whichhave been suitably shaped by swaging or pressing aside the ends of therails, and at the same time thickening them in the web and elongatingthe swaged port-ion, the thickened and elongated ends of adjoining railsbeing adapted to lap by each other, and thereby form a continuous treadequal in width to that of the rail. Provision was made in that joint forlocking the two members as against independent vertical movement by aprojection and recess at the ends of thejoint, or by a rib along theface of one member and a corresponding recess in the face of the othermember. While each form of lock is effective to a certain extent, theprojection and recess at the ends of the joints did not form a supportfor the portions of thejoints between them, and hence the bolts whichare located along such middle portion are subjected to a shearing actionwhen a load is placed on that portion of the joint. In the constructionhaving the rib and recess along the entire length of the overlappingfaces this shearing action. is prevented; but the recess in thatposition tends to weaken thejoint at the point ofjunction of the body ofthe rail and the portion pressed aside, as above stated.

In the practice of my invention the ends of the rails are swaged orpressed over to one side ofthe vertical longitudinal central plane ofthe rail, so that the head of the end of the rail is reduced aboutone-half in Width, and at the same time the part pressed over iselongated. Vhile being pressed over and elongated the web of the rail ismade thicker than the original web by the addition of the metaldisplaced from the head and flange, as above stated.

The dies by which the above swaging operation is eliected are soconstructed as to form a rib or ribs, 3, at or near the point ofjunction of the body l of the rail and the tongue 2, formed by theswaging operation. These ribs extend along the inner face of the tongueto a point a little beyond the first bolt-hole, 4r, as shown in Figs. land 2, or may extend to a point midway of the length of the tongue, asshown in Fig. 3. Simultaneous with the formation of the ribs 3 grooves5, corresponding in depth to the projection of the ribs, are formed inthe inner` face of the tongues at or near the outer ends thereof, saidgrooves being of alength about half aninchlonger than that of the ribs.

In lieu of forming both ribs at or near the inner end of the tongue, arib and groove may be formed at or near the inner end and a rib andgroove at the outer end of the tongue, said parts being oppositelydisposed, as shown in Fig. 2; or, it' desired, a single central rib maybe formed at or near the inner end and a groove at the outer end, asshown in Fig. 3.

In order that the joints may be made by slipping the railslongitudinally, the inner faces of the tongues sliding over each other,the grooves are extended to the ends of the tongue, as shown in Fig. 1;but such construction is not essential, as the grooves may be formed asshown in Figs. 2 and 3, in which case the ribs do not extend to the wallformed by the body of the rail at the inner end of the tongue.

ICO

In order to provide a good bearing for the heads and nuts of theclamping-bolts when the latter have been shifted out of perpendicularitywith the Web of the rail by lthe longiv tudinal movement thereof, eitherin contracting or expanding, I form a longitudinally-convexed seat, 6,around the bolt-holes, the apices of the seats coinciding with thevertical diameters of the holes, as shown in Fig. 5..

This construction will permit of a bearing at extreme contraction stagesof the heads or nuts approximately equal to half the area of the wholebearingsurface of heads and nuts.

The principal characteristic of my invention herein is the formation ofa lock vextending practically the entire length of the' joint rWithoutat all impairing the strength of the provided withhorizontally-projecting ribs extending from the inner end ofthe tongueto or approximately to apoint midway 'of thelength thereof, and groovesextending from a point at or near the end of the rib to the end of thetongue, in combination with an adjoining rail having asimilarly-constructed end, substan tially as set forth.

3. A railroad-rail joint formed by tvvol overlapping rail ends, incombination with clamp ing-bolts'passing through holes in the Webs ofthe rail ends, the portions of the Web around the bolt-holes beinglongitudinally curved,su-bstantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. v y FRANS. LIGHTFOOT.

Vitnesses:

JAMES ROUNTREE, W. W. DOUGHERTY.

